The present disclosure relates to a first and a second set of contact elements and a drive adapted to mutually displace the contact elements along a displacement direction. Each contact element carries at least one conducting element. In a first mutual position of the contact elements, their conducting elements combine to form at least one conducting path between the first and second terminals of the switch, in a direction transversally to the displacement direction. In a second position of the contact elements, the conducting elements are mutually displaced into staggered positions and therefore the above conducting path is interrupted.
When the switch of U.S. Pat. No. 7,235,751 in opened, i.e. when the current is to be switched off, arcs form between the conducting elements that are being separated. These arcs can be cooled quickly because they are in direct contact with the solid material of the contact elements instead of being in contact with a surrounding gas. This results in a high arc voltage with favourable current commutating properties.